Michael Barrett is the perfect judge to drive a solution to Cincinnati’s pension problems, according to the judge who oversaw the city’s much-lauded police collaborative.

“I have so much respect for his ability to get parties talking together,” Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott said Tuesday. “He’s so good at working with people.”

Barrett, who was appointed a U.S. district judge by George W. Bush in 2006, presided over one case in which he got 180 individual union members to agree to a settlement, Dlott said.

She and Barrett worked across the hall from each other at the law firm Graydon Head, where he practiced general litigation. Barrett also worked in the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office.

“He’s been in the trenches, so he can explain the downside of litigation,” Dlott said.

Cincinnati Councilman Chris Seelbach, a Democrat, expressed concern Tuesday that a former GOP leader would be in charge of the pension mediation. Barrett, the brother of Western & Southern CEO John Barrett, was the Hamilton County Republican chairman from 2001 to 2005.

But the Hamilton County Democratic Party chairman doesn’t share those concerns.

“He’s got the right kind of personality to deal with something like this,” said Tim Burke, who served with Michael Barrett on the county Board of Elections. “I don’t think he’ll go in with any preconceived notions.”

Recent cases Barrett has handled include:

• An autistic boy who was denied early intervention treatment by the Ohio Department of Health. Barrett ruled that the services must be provided.

• COAST’s lawsuit against Cincinnati for refusing to allow a rally in the lobby of City Hall while letting other groups sponsored by council members hold events there. Barrett and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled against the city.⬛